Illinois Senate budget plan unlikely to make it to governor

Monday

Jan 9, 2017 at 9:24 AMJan 9, 2017 at 3:45 PM

JOHN O'CONNOR, AP Political Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois Senate is poised to go it alone in outlining a solution to the nation's longest-running state budget standoff but leaders acknowledge they won't have time to push it through to the governor in the final two days of the current session.

A bipartisan Senate deal began to emerge late last week with a goal of breaking the nearly two-year deadlock between Democrats who control the Legislature and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. It was positioned for a floor vote by late Monday, but since the session ends Tuesday, there's no time to push the plan to the House. It would have to be reintroduced after a new General Assembly is seated Wednesday.

The package includes an increase in the personal income tax from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent, borrowing money to pay off $11 billion in overdue bills, expanding legalized riverboat casino gambling, raising the minimum wage and eliminating pensions for retired lawmakers.

The Senate has been largely sidelined during the seeming test of wills between former venture capitalist Rauner and Michael Madigan, the Chicago Democrat who has run the House for most of three decades. But the Senate plan hasn't involved the House, and is the result of weeks of talks between Democratic Senate President John Cullerton and Republican Leader Christine Radogno.

Spokesmen for Madigan and Cullerton declined comment.

Senate leaders acknowledge their late push is a means to lay out a framework for the next session.

The state has limped along since the middle of 2015 without an annual spending plan. State government has functioned largely because of court-ordered spending on social services and periodic appropriations by lawmakers. But hundreds of thousands of people have lost access to mental health treatment or elderly care, as well as financial aid for college, and the state's financial ratings have dropped.

Rauner insists on a package of regulatory changes to help business and curb union power, a local property tax freeze and limits on politicians' power and longevity. Democrats refuse to negotiate anything but dollars and cents in terms of the budget.

Contact Political Writer John O'Connor at https://twitter.com/apoconnor. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/john-oconnor.

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Key numbers in the Illinois budget stalemate

As the Illinois Senate tries to broker a deal to break the state's long-running budget deadlock, here are some of the numbers at the center of the debate:

— $11 billion: The amount in bills at least 60 days old that the state owed, as of Friday, to vendors and service providers, according to the Illinois state comptroller. That figure is higher than the current-year expected general revenue for 30 states, and more than the estimated tax dollars coming in this year for Alaska, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming combined, according to figures from the National Association of State Budget Officers.

— $5.3 billion: The estimated budget deficit on June 30 if nothing changes, according to the Governor's Office of Management and Budget. That's more than 13 percent of the total Illinois is on track to spend this fiscal year — and it's why Arkansas estimates it will raise all year. Without action, the governor's budget office predicts a $7 billion deficit in June 2018.

— $1.7 million: The amount available for rape crisis centers to spend last fall after Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and legislative Democrats agreed to a six-month, stopgap budget that expired Dec. 31, according to Polly Poskin, executive director of the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault. Other money appropriated paid the previous year's bills. The remainder is about one-quarter of what the 29 centers statewide need to operate annually, so clients are waiting longer for counseling.

— $0: The amount available, once again, for the income-based Monetary Award Program that helps students attend college. The stopgap budget provided $321 million for 107,000 awards, but left 162,000 eligible students without help. An Illinois Student Assistance Commission survey in December found that more than half of MAP-eligible students responding to a survey reported the funding uncertainty had adversely impacted their school plans.

— 1 million: Number of people as of last summer who lost services from United Way social-service agencies, including mental health and substance-abuse treatment, domestic violence services and HIV prevention. The United Way of Illinois reported that 91 percent of its local organizations had cut services.